WASH businesses that are attempting to enter both water and sanitation markets worldwide are frequently not what you'd call "business as usual". Many of them are social enterprises started by passionate people who put people before profit and exist primarily to meet a specific challenge.

Since my first post about some first-hand experience of running a WASH business within the Ethiopian business framework I've been wondering how much of the challenges is due to being a foreign business. Maybe the thought occurred to a few readers.

Ethiopia is currently ranked 161st out of 190 countries for "Ease of Doing Business". My first post is about why that might be the case, and how the recent new government has the potential to have an impact as it seeks to harness the potential of the private sector.

Behaviours learned at school, like washing hands, stay with students for the rest of their lives and will influence those around them. The Ethiopian government is working hard to ensure that all children are enrolled in school and at the same time is challenged to provide adequate facilities for...

"People used to make fun of me saying, 'Do you really expect us to pay 350 birr for this toy you molded while we can get it for free?'" says Tesfaye Lemanche, Chair of Data Concrete Slab production Association.

It's the final day of the design summit, and we're all a bit weary but energized to see the fruits of all this labor. When we started our 10-day journey with MIT, it felt to me like a long time to spend in a workshop. But as the summit progressed, I realized that we could easily spend a month...

Climate resilient WASH is about new ways of working across the traditional humanitarian and development sectors. We went to one of the harshest spots in Ethiopia, and surely in the world, to find out more.

My new role at Cranfield University this year is to drive forward a novel and very exciting project known as WEEP (Water-security in Ethiopia and the emotional response of pastoralists). WEEP has immense potential to 'break new ground' in understanding the everyday and ongoing challenges of water...

Day 6 at the USAID Transform WASH Design Summit began like every day, with Morning Circle. This is a moment to set the mood, reflect, have a bit of fun, and make announcements about the day. The group is large with 35 participants plus Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Design Lab...

When we set out to transform the WASH sector in Ethiopia, I knew it would be a fascinating journey. But, our Transform WASH Design Summit, organized by PSI/Ethiopia and led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) D-Lab here in Hawassa, took us to an entirely new place.

You may have heard of the Lord of the Rings, but in Bihar, India, that name is taking on a whole new meaning. I recently joined a field visit to this part of the world to see how cement ring businesses are changing the face of rural sanitation.

As Ethiopia manages to develop more and more new rural water schemes – springs, wells or boreholes with hand-pumps or engines, piped water – keeping the existing infrastructure running well and safely is a challenge that gets bigger every day. And, despite some encouraging efforts, it's a challenge...